Technical tomes pricey, but book shop a find

By SANDRA BRETTING, FOR THE CHRONICLE |
September 4, 2011
| Updated: September 4, 2011 12:02am

johnny hanson PHOTOS : chronicle
SECOND OWNER: Pat Ginther bought the Brown Book Shop from its founder in 1980. Among its dozen staff members are many who have worked there for more than a decade. "It's all about the employees," Ginther said. "They know the stock better than anyone." The store is at 1517 San Jacinto St.

Photo By Johnny Hanson/Staff

NOT FOR EVERYBODY: Rusty Lambert, a pipe fitter, carries the Pipe Fitter's Math Guide while shopping at the Brown Book Shop.

Photo By Johnny Hanson/Staff

Koh Chai Meng, who works in the shipbuilding industry, peruses a selection at the Brown Book Shop.

More Information

Brown Book Shop is open Monday through Saturday. More information can be found at brownbookshop.com.

Even if someone were to write a book about the colorful history of Brown Book Shop in downtown Houston, the store probably wouldn't carry it.

That's because the 65-year-old Brown Book Shop specializes in technical books written for petroleum engineers, electricians, architects and the like.

The only reason cookbooks and classic novels appear at all is for people who accompany these professionals on their book-buying expeditions.

"Our customers spend a lot of time in our store," said Stephanie Darling, marketing coordinator. "When you're paying that much money for a book, you want to make sure it's the right one."

For example, The Mobile Drilling Units of the World 2011 checks in at $580. Looking for the International Safety Guide for Oil Tankers and Terminals? That runs $445. Even the illustrated edition of Residential Building Codes will set you back almost $50.

With merchandise this expensive, ordering becomes an art form, said Pat Ginther, who bought the business from founder Ted Brown in 1980.

"If you don't sell it, you eat it," Ginther said. "Even the publishers print just enough of these books to meet demand."

$700 best-seller

According to Darling, the shop's top seller is a code book from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, with a list price of $700 for a three-year set. Also popular are Spanish editions of American code books. What the 9,000-square-foot store doesn't carry are textbooks, which Darling noted can be found at any college campus.

Several things set the self-described "only walk-in technical bookstore in the world" apart. First are the number of companies that contract with it. Ginther said the store has almost 3,000 active accounts with companies like Exxon Mobil Corp., Halliburton Co. and others that order books in multiples.

"We ship in between 1,200 and 1,500 books a week," said Melissa Prince, the store's buyer. "Over the years we've developed a good relationship with company purchasing agents."

In fact, Prince said purchasing agents often precede a visit to the Offshore Technology Conference in the spring with a visit to Brown Book Shop.

"We're the only bookstore who goes to the conference," Darling said. "Some people look at us funny and wonder what we're doing there, but it's a great source of contacts."

Ginther said the store switched from offering trade books to technical tomes in the 1990s. That was back in the decade that gross revenues topped $5 million a year, though Ginther said the number is closer to $1.8 million now.

Among its 12 staff members are many who have worked at Brown Book Shop for more than a decade.

"It's all about the employees," Ginther said. "They know the stock better than anyone."

A building with a story

Aside from its staff and stock, Brown Book Shop is known for its building's colorful history. Built as a hotel on a corner of San Jacinto in the 1920s, it morphed into Carter Music before becoming a bookstore in 1988.

The building's top floor was once a performance and recording space for the Houston Symphony. An old ticket window now leads to the employee break room. The store's map room, above the selling floor, displays historic and current maps showing pipeline routes. Attorneys sometimes use the room when preparing cases involving disputed pipelines, Darling said.